Chapter 1114: Nine-Orifice Giant

Jiang Fan smiled mysteriously. "Naturally, it's to secure some benefits for my teammates."

"Wherever I go, the Heaven-Linking Black Pillar and its surrounding entrances and exits will be right there with me. We won't need spatial imprints to escape. Even if we encounter that powerful five-star Giant King, the Wind Giant, or the Space Giant, we won't need to fear."

The others suddenly understood!

Gu Xin'er's face immediately lit up with joy. "Ah, that's right! With the Heaven-Linking Black Pillar, the five of us can now traverse the Southern Heavenly Realm fearlessly! Hahahaha!"

Song Lingyu smiled faintly. "It wasn't in vain that I shamelessly asked for my artifact back. Following the little dark merchant was indeed the right choice!"

Bai Xin thought for a moment, but didn't object. She said, "No wonder you asked us, High Priest of Wine, if moving the Heaven-Linking Black Pillar would affect everyone's ability to find the Heaven-Linking Black Spider. So, you had already planned to move around with the Heaven-Linking Black Pillar in tow."

Fayin Vajra saluted with a smile. "Amitābha. Benefactor Jiang possesses extraordinary wisdom and intelligence. No wonder the Bodhisattva said that Benefactor Jiang has a strong connection with our Buddha."

Jiang Fan rolled his eyes at him. "You're so fond of converting others. Later, I'll just leave you in the Southern Heavenly Realm to slowly convert the ancient giants!"

Fayin Vajra just smiled, saying nothing. He conjured his eighth-grade Golden Lotus and said, "Benefactors, please ride on this monk's Golden Lotus. It has been blessed by a Bodhisattva, can travel vast distances daily, and can become invisible."

Jiang Fan unceremoniously jumped onto it. To his surprise, the Heaven-Linking Black Pillar behind him also became invisible within the Buddhist radiance. A Bodhisattva's blessings truly are extraordinary.

Half an hour later, they finally saw what could be described as an island. Upon it grew towering ancient trees, hundreds of feet tall, and all sorts of extraordinarily large flowers and fruits. Several honeybees flew past them, their bodies as large as golden eagles! As if sensing their arrival, a grayish-white wild rabbit sprang out of the thirty-foot-tall grass. Its size was comparable to a wild boar!

Everyone was amazed by the sight. "The Southern Heavenly Realm is quite unique; all living beings here are extraordinarily large," said Gu Xin'er. "This also explains why the ancient giants are so massive. It's not due to their inherent nature, but rather the environment of the Southern Heavenly Realm."

Gu Xin'er looked down at her chest, her eyes lighting up. "I have a bold idea!"

Jiang Fan instantly understood what she was thinking, and a vein throbbed on his forehead. "Put that idea out of your head! Be careful it doesn't grow bigger than your head!"

Gu Xin'er angrily punched him lightly. "I'm going to try anyway!"

"Shh!" Bai Xin suddenly gestured for everyone to be quiet. They looked closely. They saw a group of humans quietly passing over the island, heading in the direction of the Heaven-Linking Black Pillar. Upon first sight, Jiang Fan was taken aback. Humans existed in the Southern Heavenly Realm?

Upon careful sensing, a faint, almost imperceptible pure Yin energy emanated from their bodies. Jiang Fan suddenly realized, and sent a telepathic message to the others: "They are Ashura from Hell."

Strange as it was, this was the Heavenly Realm, yet there were many beings from Hell. First there were hellish savage beasts, then a girl who fell from the sky, and now groups of unknown Ashura.

Just as Jiang Fan was pondering whether to stop them and inquire further, a loud roar suddenly erupted from the island below. Ancient trees, hundreds of feet tall, shot up into the sky like sharp arrows without warning, raining down on them.

Looking down, they saw that beneath the island, more than a dozen ancient giants were hidden! They had been hiding underground, and as the Ashura passed by, they uprooted the ancient trees and hurled them. Caught off guard, four of the Ashura were immediately struck, turning into bloody mist.

The remaining six Ashura experts' expressions changed dramatically as they shouted in the language of Hell: "They are the ancient giants of the Black Rock Tribe! Our whereabouts have been exposed! Protect the Young Lord and flee quickly! I'll cover the retreat!"

An elderly but vigorous Ashura, whose eyes pulsed with black light, stepped forward. Wherever the light passed, the hurled ancient trees melted away. His cultivation had evidently reached the Eight-Aperture Ashura realm!

However, among the ambushing ancient giants, there were also experts. A massive giant, covered in golden spots, over thirty feet tall, and visibly taller than the others, stomped on the island, leaping into the air with a powerful spring. The island violently sank with his leap, submerging into the black sea of clouds below. Wielding a spiked club, he swung it in mid-air, leaving afterimages, and slammed it fiercely into the elderly Ashura.

In an instant, the black light erupting from the elderly Ashura's eyes was extinguished. He took the full force of the spiked club's blow. The next moment, his body exploded. An aged soul flew out, letting out a desperate roar: "You beasts!" Its soul rapidly expanded, unleashing destructive waves of light. It was trying to detonate its soul power to perish together with its enemies!

A hint of mockery appeared in the colossal ancient giant's eyes. He opened his mouth, and a crimson long tongue shot out, wrapping around the elderly Ashura's soul like lightning. The next moment, it was pulled into his mouth, devoured alive amidst the elder's piercing screams!

The others watched, their hearts chilled with dread! An Eight-Aperture Nascent Soul expert was annihilated, body and soul, in two rounds! The giant before them was definitely a Nine-Aperture level being!

What made their hearts sink even further was this: After killing the elderly Ashura, he suddenly turned around, his massive vertical eye glaring cruelly in the direction of Jiang Fan and the others. With one hand, he hurled his spiked club. Its terrifying momentum made Jiang Fan's scalp tingle! He didn't even have time to use 'Cloud Shadow' to dodge!

"Attack together!" Jiang Fan transmitted in a low shout. He immediately took out the black cauldron of the Daoist Head of Mount Sanqing and activated it. Dense talismans surged from it, condensing into a long spear that shot out rapidly. It struck the spiked club but immediately burst open, only slowing its momentum slightly.

"Hell Lotus!" Song Lingyu had already acted. A lotus flower suddenly exploded, causing the spiked club to sway wildly, greatly reducing its momentum. Truly worthy of an Eight-Aperture Nascent Soul! But the spiked club still posed a deadly threat.

Bai Xin immediately activated her Yellow Bell, which rang out with a clang. The bell's reverberating clang, like that of a grand chime, momentarily froze the spiked club.

Fayin Vajra chanted a Buddhist epithet, "Amitābha. Who moves the wind and clouds? It is the heart that moves them." Invisible Buddhist radiance enveloped it, completely freezing the spiked club in mid-air.

Under the powerful combined efforts of the four, they barely managed to block the giant's single attack!

But it was just one strike.

*Swoosh!* A crimson streak of lightning, following closely behind the spiked club, arrived. It instantly coiled around the group, dragging them into the gaping, blood-red mouth. Their expressions changed drastically. They all attacked the tongue coiled around them. However, the seemingly soft tongue was impervious to all attacks. Even Song Lingyu's Hell Lotus, when struck upon it, only charred it slightly, eliciting merely a pained roar from the giant.

In the blink of an eye, they were already dragged to the giant's mouth. A chill shot up from their soles to the tops of their heads.

In this critical moment, Jiang Fan decisively took out the Heaven-Slaying Cauldron! After days of suppression by the Snow-Listening Sword, it had accumulated some dangerous blue magma again. Not enough to kill a Deity Transformation expert, but more than enough to slay a Nine-Aperture giant.